Nipmuc 5, Whitinsville Christian 0: Warriors make it five straight

The Nipmuc girls soccer team has dominated Dual Valley Conference rival Whitinsville Christian over the past couple of years, winning all four meetings and outscoring the Crusaders 20-1 in the process. Make it five in a row and a 25-1 cumulative score.

The Nipmuc girls soccer team has dominated Dual Valley Conference rival Whitinsville Christian over the past couple of years, winning all four meetings and outscoring the Crusaders 20-1 in the process.

Make it five in a row and a 25-1 cumulative score.

The Warriors exploded for five first-half goals on Wednesday, putting 17 shots on net before the intermission, and won by a 5-0 count.

The blowout moved Nipmuc to 6-1-1 overall and 3-1 in the DVC, while Whitinsville Christian fell to a dismal 1-8 overall and 0-5 in the DVC.

"This was a good win for us today," said Nipmuc coach Howard Cohen.

Nipmuc not only dominated the scoresheet, but Whitinsville Christian never even crossed midfield until 26 minutes remained in the game. It was a display of absolute command by the Warriors.

"We’ve had some success against Whitinsville for a few years now, and today was no different," said Cohen. "The best part about it is that we got to play a lot of different players. We have a very deep roster with a lot of talented players, including (Gabriela Carreiro) who is one of 18 players in the country at the U17 national level, so our program is really apples and oranges compared to Whitinsville and that’s probably why we’ve had some of the results we have had over the past few years.

"They competed hard though and I give them a lot of credit for that."

Sophomore Kiley Laroque led the way with two goals for Nipmuc. Her sister Kaelen, a senior, added a goal of her own. Junior Nicole Murphy and sophomore Taylor Lacey had the other two tallies for the Warriors.

"We have a very competitive schedule, so anytime we can get a lot of people in and score like we did today, it’s good to build that momentum," said Kaelen Laroque. "We have some tough games coming up within the league, so that’s really what we’re trying to gear everything towards."

Murphy got Nipmuc on the board with 23 minutes to play in the first half. From there, the floodgates opened as Kiley Laroque scored her goals with 22 and 14 minutes left in the half.

Kaelen Laroque then netted her goal with 8:20 left in the first half, and Lacey capped off the scoring with a beautiful header off a long pass from sophomore Alexa Mirageas with 2:50 remaining before halftime.

"It’s a great experience being able to play with your sister," Kiley Laroque said with a laugh, "especially when you’re winning and both scoring."

If not for Whitinsville Christian junior goalkeeper Jordan Dion, who made 20 saves, the final score could have been much uglier.

"Their keeper was phenomenal for them today," said Cohen. "I don’t think we finished as well as I’d like us to for all the opportunities we had, but that’s largely in part because of her play. She was great."

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After losing in the Division 2 Central semifinals a year ago and in the sectional finals back in 2011, Cohen’s squad has been all business this season, and it showed with a win like the one on Wednesday.

"We’re trying to build something here," said Cohen. "Everything we’ve done this year has been geared towards trying to win the league, and then hopefully making a run like we have the past couple of years. But, with that being said, we have some extremely tough competition within the league that we are getting ready for and that can’t be overlooked.

"We have to keep everything in perspective and just continue working the way we have all season."